Quenelles of Salmon in Nantua Sauce
Potato cakes, salmon quenelles, and Sauce Nantua make a lovely presentation, and a delicious combination. Sauce Nantua, like all “Nantua” dishes, contains crawfish tails, which are available frozen year-round.
Ingredients
- Potato Pancakes
- Potatoes - 4 large
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Eggs - 3
- Flour - 3 cups
- Olive Oil - 4 tablespoons
- Sauce Nantua
- Olive Oil - 2 tablespoons
- Red Peppers - 2, peeled, seeded, and diced
- Onion - 1, diced
- Garlic Cloves - 2, minced
- Crawfish Tail Meat - 2 cups
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Brandy - 1/4 cup
- Tomatoes - 2, peeled, seeded, and diced
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1 cup
- Salmon Quenelles
- Fillet of salmon - one, 16-ounce
- Egg Whites - 3
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1/3 to 2/3 cup
- Parsley - 1 bunch, stemmed and minced
Instructions
To make the pancakes: Peel the potatoes and cut into fine julienne on a mandoline or V-slicer. Season the potato julienne with salt and pepper. Stir the eggs to break them up, then add the eggs and flour to the potato. Toss to combine. Heat the olive oil in a medium non-stick saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Make three circles of the potato mixture and cook until they have firmed into cakes and the bottoms are golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn and cook on the other side until golden. Remove and set aside. Repeat to make 12 cakes.
To make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat and saute the pepper, onion, and garlic until the onion is translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the crawfish tails, season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Cook 1 minute. Take the pan off the fire and add the brandy. Avert your face, return the pan to the fire, and flame the brandy, shaking the pan until the flames die down. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir in the tomato and cream. Cook until the sauce thickens slightly. Set aside; keep warm.
To make the quenelles: Clean the skin from the fillet and remove any bones. Cut the meat into 1-inch chunks. Blend in a food processor until the fish forms a ball; scrape down the bowl. Add the egg whites, one at a time, with the machine running. Stop the machine and scrape down the bowl again. With the machine running, add 1/3 cup of cream. Check the consistency; it should be soft, but firm enough to hold its shape. If necessary, add more cream, a little at a time, until it reaches this consistency.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, then take off the heat. Wet a large spoon in the water. Scoop a large quenelle of salmon puree, then slip it into the water, using the side of the pan to form it as necessary. Repeat to make 12 quenelles. Put the pan back on the medium heat and cook 5 to 6 minutes; do not let the water boil (remove the pan from the heat and lower the heat, then return the pan if necessary). Remove the quenelles with a slotted spoon.
To serve: Place 3 potato cakes equidistantly on each warmed serving plate, leaving space in the center. Place 3 salmon quenelles in the center of each in a radial pattern. Spoon Sauce Nantua between the quenelles. Sprinkle the plates with chopped parsley.
